."By learning you will teach; by teaching you will understand."~ Latin proverbQuestion: If we really want to grow individuals, and organizations, what has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to do it?Answer: Insist that, as a condition of employment, each person on your team has an obligation and responsibility to teach others.

Why? Because what we teach is likely to be done, at least to some degree, by the teacher who teaches. Cognitive dissonance creates conflict with our conscience otherwise. Why should we insist that employees teach? Brain studies conducted by Dr. Gary Phillips at National Institute of Brain Research have determined that after one month we remember:

14% of what we hear

22% of what we see

42% of actions that we repeat

92% of what we teach others

Aside from the altruistic benefits and team morale implications of having every employee have a career obligation and responsibility to teach others - the Maslow hierarchy of needs argues strongly that you end up with a more self actualized employee. Why don't more companies do it? A short term task /results focus instead of a long term development of the individual focus mainly.